1 / 36

David Deeds - It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose: GBL Hits and Misses in K-12

David Deeds, Director of Information and Learning Technologies for Schutz American School in Alexandria, Egypt This presentation was given at the 2017 Serious Play Conference, hosted by the George Mason University - Virginia Serious Play Institute.

SeriousPlayConf
Download Presentation

David Deeds - It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose: GBL Hits and Misses in K-12

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. 2017 It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose: Hits & Misses with GBL in K-12 David W. Deeds David W. Deeds

  2. Yantai, Shandong, China (Technology Integrator, Yew Wah International Education School)

  3. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose Introduction • I have almost 16 years in education: 50-50 split between higher ed and K-12 • Have successfully introduced GBL in six different countries…so far! • Next job: Director of Information and Learning Technologies for Schutz American School in Alexandria, Egypt • Today’s goals: GBL Basics, Introducing GBL Schoolwide, What Has Worked (& What Hasn’t) in Classrooms (Labs) • Less text, more fun/graphics! ;)

  4. GBL is fun and that’s OK! ;)

  5. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose Games-Based Learning (GBL) – Goal is to teach something while the learner is playing a game. Gamification – Implementing game mechanics (e.g., winning/losing) in a non-game context (e.g., classroom) to engage learners. A classroom is a non-game context?? Hard for folks to separate these concepts at times.

  6. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose OK, with Minecraft(Edu) or virtual worlds, they’re playing a game, no doubt. But with Hour of Code or Kodu, they’re learning programming while playing or creating games, using a game-like interface…? Oh, well. Let’s back up. How do you get your school to starting using GBL (or whatever you want to call it)?

  7. You say toh-may-toh, I say…

  8. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose First…stop worrying about research. Get a real job, move out of mom’s basement, find a girlfriend/boyfriend (maybe a virtual one?). Those of us who actually set foot in a classroom on a regular basis know GBL is the best thing to happen to education since the invention of blackboards and chalk. Got a problem with that? Show us YOUR research!

  9. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose How to introduce GBL: • Best to ask forgiveness vs. permission! • Start with ICT or after-school activity • Lead by example, word of mouth will sell it to everybody else • Cross-curricular/interdisciplinary: Virtual Worlds, Minecraft(Edu) • Also a sneaky way to get PBL started! • Your students already know what to do, but the Digital Native stuff is BS

  10. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose How to introduce GBL (cont.): • You’re either a Teacher or Administrator…? • Ideally you’re (or you have) a Technology Integrator or Coach • Your school has computer labs and/or a 1:1/BYOD program • Different scenarios/roles call for different strategies/approaches • Keep in mind that after you get it started, (almost) everybody will see the benefits!

  11. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose How NOT to introduce GBL: • Start with administrators/proposals (worst mistake you can make) • Tell the dinosaurs (well, anybody) that it’s FUN and kids will love it • Choose a game that will cost big bucks • Attempt to rewrite the curriculum in advance (make it a “free pilot” instead!) • Argue about whether it’s Games-Based Learning or Gamification!

  12. Fighting the dinosaurs for GBL!

  13. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose GBL is geeky-cool because: • Kids enjoy doing it (imagine that!) • Enables learning from mistakes/failure in safe (simulated) environment • Maintains motivation via challenges, incremental increases • Puts into practice problem-solving techniques (strategic thinking) • Facilitates project management and other real-life skills

  14. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose GBL is geeky-cool because (cont.): • Games are the ultimate equalizer, not just playing ability, but languages, etc. • Feedback is immediate (& individualized?) • Keeps everybody busy, self-paced activities, stragglers get special attention • Tends to snowball with certain teachers and subjects, no need to dictate or babysit • Gets everybody thinking about edtech expansions (VR/AR, 3D/360, etc.)

  15. If you can, just GO FOR IT!

  16. Hour of Code and other sites

  17. Virtual Worlds

  18. Let’s get this party started…

  19. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose What has worked: • Match game type with lesson goals (no surprise, computers always best!) • “Skeleton lesson plans” for project differentiation, autonomy, etc. • Balance of collaborative and individualized projects, teamwork but independence • Using native-language interface for ELLs • Having older students tutor younger ones • Relate project management to real life!

  20. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose What has worked (cont.): • Cycles, small/large, to reinforce new skills/knowledge • What I Know, What I Don’t and How I’m Going to Get There charts • Make it immersive whenever possible (why virtual worlds are so wonderful) • Same game across grades, challenges differentiated (games communities) • Projects, never tests!

  21. It’s contagious!

  22. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose Biggest software successes: • Scratch from MIT (but students don’t think it’s a game!), try Game Guru (Steam) • Virtual Worlds: OpenSimulator, Second Life (next: Sine Space!) • Minecraft, esp. MinecraftEdu • Code.org, CodeCombat, Gamestar Mechanic, Kodu, etc. • “Simple games” like ABCya, typing tutors like Typing.com…lots to choose from!

  23. Minecraft(Edu)

  24. Kodu and other apps

  25. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose What has not worked: • Internet-required games when connections are dodgy • Freebie games that only go up to a certain level and then stop • English-only interfaces with ELLs, complicated interfaces in general • Assessing without special rubrics, BUT obsessing over rubric-grade connection is a no-no (“Like you = good grade, don’t like you = bad grade!”)

  26. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose What has not worked: • Ignoring purpose and “shelf life,” playing for the sake of it or for too long • Trying to fool kids by not designating learning games as such (vs. “pure fun”) • Assuming, e.g., Creative mode best in Minecraft; turns out kids collaborate most when their motivation is FEAR OF DEATH! • Insisting on due diligence re: design phase • Separating by gender except for contests • Driving kids crazy with documentation

  27. Hour of Code and other sites

  28. It’s Not Whether You Win Or Lose Coming up next: • More Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR), ideally via Chromebooks! • Blending GBL with Makerspaces and STEAM Program • House (?) system for computer game competitions (maybe real-world too!) • Ideally, using Unity and/or other game engines to do some heavy-duty dev! • Back to Game Guru, other Steam stuff!

  29. Just more photos!

  30. Just more photos!

  31. Just more photos!

  32. If you can’t beat (us), join (us)!

  33. 2017 NMC K-12 Horizon Report Download your free preview today! www.nmc.org/publication/nmccosn- horizon-report-2017-k-12-edition/

  34. My Scoop.it Pages www.scoop.it/t/3d-virtual-worlds- educational-technology www.scoop.it/t/integration-and-teaching- ed-tech

  35. Cartoons by Studio Jonos Support him and other fiverr artists: www.fiverr.com

  36. Thank you! -- 谢谢! -- ركش ! David W. Deeds, Ph.D. Director of Information and Learning Technologies Schutz American School, Alexandria, Egypt ddeeds@schutzschool.org.eg www.schutzschool.org.eg

More Related